The Metro was crowded with people eager to reach Rajpath. From harried parents to college students, everybody was looking ahead to their seats under the morning sun.

The train empties at the Rajiv Chowk Station, and the crowd begins to march towards India Gate. Some get onto the green DTC buses waiting to take them to the stands. “Mamma hurry up, we will miss the parade,” a little girl with pigtails calls out.

After a long walk and two security checks, the crowd enters the enclosure.

The marching contingents and bands fascinate the children, but it’s the jets, tanks, and the motorcyclists that excites them.

The BSF’s Camel Contingent animates 3-year-old Sukrit, while his parents applaud its precision and grace.

For Ashish (12), who has seen the parade “five times”, the motorcyclists “are the best”. His younger brother Sagar likes the planes, and when asked what the parade is about, says. “I will tell you when I grow up.”

The parents also become children when the fly-past begins. “Oh look! The helicopters” is a common refrain. Seats are abandoned and heads turn. They clap and whoop as the Sukhoi 30s perform a vertical stunt.

After the parade, 47-year-old Hem Lal from Hastsal Colony in Uttam Nagar greets every soldier with a salaam and a ram ram bhaisaab. “It feels good to greet them,” he says, as he bows to an NSG commando. Umesh Joshi (48), who has “watched every parade since Indira Gandhi’s time”, says, “The security has been increased over the years.”